CURRENT LOCATION: Anchored in Bahia de Monte Christi at the foot of a mountain (El Morro), Dominican Republic

19 51.990' N, 071 39.814' W

Those cruising the Bahamas have numerous guide books to choose from to aid them in their travels. But in the Dominican Republic, The Gentleman's Guide to Passages South, by Bruce Van Sant is the cruiser's bible. Many conversations will start with, "Well, Van Sant suggests..." And I, too, am not immune to quoting liberally from Van Sant. Experienced cruisers we met while back in New Bern suggested that we take heed and follow Van Sant's guidelines.

For transiting the north coast of the Dominican Republic, Van Sant recommends taking advantage of the night lee (a tendency for trade winds to abate at night due to the onset of land breezes and katabatic winds). Last night we saw a grand example of this effect. When we rode the dinghy over to the neighboring catamaran for drinks (around 5:30PM) the bay was choppy. By the time we rode back (around 9PM), the water was glass calm.

We awoke to a still mirror-flat bay at sunrise. Sheryl jumped in the dinghy to go into town to get our despacho or clearance papers (we have to clear in and clear out of each official port and show papers upon boarding at any points in between). It took far too long for the officials to get the paperwork ready, so we had already broken the first Van Sant rule for this leg: 'Leave at first light to make this short trip to Monte Christi.'

Despite the late start, the bay was still calm as we motored away from our anchorage. Soon, a light wind picked up and we added some sail. Before long, we had 10-15 knots so we shut down the engine and made way under sail alone. We rounded the corner of the bay and passed onto the Monte Christi Bank around 9AM. We spent the first hour sailing on that bank in nice, light winds. We were not making the best time because our point of sail was a little off the rhum line and slower than we might have gone by motor sailing, but we were having a lovely time.

Then the change came. It was as though someone flipped a switch and we had 20+ knot winds and building seas. We now had to cover 6 nautical miles directly into these winds and seas. We paid the price for our 'lovely sail' by working the engine and sails quite hard to make progress toward the spot where we could fall off and sail into the anchorage. It took over 2 hours to make that point, and by the time we reached it we had learned our lesson: follow Van Sant to the letter, and don't make matters worse by having fun and actually sailing. The waters off the north coast of the Dominican Republic can and will be brutal.

As we anchored facing a beautiful mountain (note: we saw none of those in the Bahamas or Turks & Caicos), a boat came up to inspect our papers and collect information. They asked for a little donation, but we indicated that we could not spare the funds in our budget (we feel as though we paid enough on our 'official' stop yesterday). We were nice, though, and offered them fruit juice and stamped their paperwork with our custom-designed boat stamp.

We spent the afternoon researching the next leg of our journey, according to Van Sant. The instructions from here have us leaving in the darkness and arriving at the next destination at first light. Therefore, sleep tonight may be a little slim, but we hope to take advantage of that night lee and have a much more comfortable and efficient trip. Wish us luck, dear Reader.